| Feature Type: | Mountain - Mass of land prominently elevated above the surrounding terrain, bounded by steep slopes and rising to a summit and/or peaks. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | S. of Moby Dick Mountain, Kootenay Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 50°54'04"N, 117°24'28"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 82K/14 |
| Related Maps: |
82K 82K/14 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Scylla Mountain adopted 9 June 1960 on 82K, at 50 53 35 - 117 24 51. Altered application 3 October 1973 on 82K/14, to 50 54 02 - 117 24 21, being the correct location according to August 1972 letter from W.L. Putnam. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Named by N.H. Brewster of Glacier, BC (date not cited), after the dangerous rock mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, personified elsewhere in Greek mythology as a nymph changed into a monster, who terrorizes mariners in the Strait of Messina. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" implies "between two equally hazardous alternatives." Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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"...Charybdis and Scylla...are from Homer's Odyssey. Scylla is a dangerous rock which lured sailors on, and if they avoided shipwreck on the rocks of Scylla they were almost inevitably drawn into the whirlpool of Charybdis. In our case we were drawn onward for many weary days, knowing we would have to pass between these 2 peaks." (letter from N.H. Brewster, file L.3.59). Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |